Poetry on vinyl, the zines of Instagram and more from the literary web

Readings from the roster of indie press Civil Coping Mechanisms. A brand-new, totally hip book review. And, if you’ve got a record player, I’ve got your next date planned. Here’s a few gems from this week’s literary Web.

Poetry on Vinyl

Full-disclosure: I am the target audience for this product. Fonograph Editions, a vinyl-only poetry press launched out of Portland, Ore., in 2016, aims to release two to three poetry LPs annually. Think about it — what poetry fan does not also collect records? (The inverse is not always true.) “It’s a niche product for what’s already a niche art form: poetry,” founder Jeff Alessandrelli told the Paris Review. It may be niche, but poetry fans and record collectors are a devoted audience. Just let me set the scene: A date walks over to the record player to set the mood, and on comes Eileen Myles. Could there be any smoother move?

Zinestagram

LA Zine Fest is back this weekend, and I’ve been scrolling #lazinefest for sneak-peeks of vendors posting their buttons, zines and artwork. Instagram feels tailor-made for the zine world — visual, self-generated — and it’s cool to see artists using a digital app to promote handmade work. Book Show Book Shop in Highland Park, a reliable destination for zines all year long, has been hyping the fest with some of their favorite selections. One of mine is “Radical Nuns: A Feminist Fanzine and Coloring Booklet.”

The Totally Hip Book Review

It’s back, and this time Ron Charles reviews L.A. author Edan Lepucki’s “Woman No. 17.” “You don’t to have read the previous 16 installments as I have, of course,” he says (there are none), before terrorizing an unsuspecting intern. Click on through, but be forewarned: I will never be able to unsee Ron Charles dressed as an adult baby.

Westside L.A. literary events

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o will read at the Hammer Museum, one the most fancy-feeling places in the city for literary events, on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. Thiong’o’s latest book is a memoir, “Birth of a Dream Weaver: A Writer’s Awakening”; he was shortlisted for 2009 Man Booker International Prize. The event is free, like everything else at the museum (except parking) — you might as well show up a few hours early and make whole day of it.

The courtyard at the Hammer Museum. (Stefanie Keenan)

(Stefanie Keenan /)

Can’t venture out on a school night? “The Self Is a Hybrid Form,” a reading from indie press Civil Coping Mechanisms with Harold Abramowitz, Chiwan Choi, Christopher Higgs, Janice Lee and Wendy C. Ortiz takes over Beyond Baroque on Saturday at 8:00 p.m.

Eastsiders: I know these events are across town, but they’re worth it.

[email protected]

@agathafrenchy